International migration and community development

Abstract

A prior review published in this journal considered the consequences of international migration for national economic development. In this article we examine theories and research on the relationship between international migration and development at the community level. Once again we conclude that prior work has been unduly pessimistic about the prospects for development as a result of international migration, largely because it has failed to take into account the complex, often indirect ways that migration and remittances influence the economic status of households and the communities that contain them.